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WRIGHT: Upbeat about Friends Life t20

09-Jul-2012

When the cricket calendar flicks over to the Friends Life t20 every year, there can be few players more enthusiastic about the competition than Luke Wright.

Indeed, it would be no surprise to see the Sharks' quarter-final against Gloucestershire marked with a big red circle in Wright's abode once you have heard him talk effusively of his passion for the shortest form of the game.

The 27-year-old thrives in t20 and it is no surprise that he spearheaded Sussex's charge as they became the first county to book their place in the last eight.

Wright told ecb.co.uk: "It's going really well, I'm really pleased. I love this part of the season. To be doing well and helping Sussex to get more wins is what you want to do.

"When you're scoring runs in Twenty20 it's when you can enjoy it; it's when you're not that it starts getting frustrating.

"We're lucky that all the batters are in good form. We're just going out there and enjoying ourselves and not worrying about getting out which I think is the key to Twenty20 cricket."

To read the interview in full, courtesy of the ECB Website, please click HERE

Whilst the Sharks’ success in the FL t20 has been a great team effort, it has often been built upon some stunning batting at the top of the order by Luke Wright, Chris Nash and latterly Matt Prior. Wright, in particular, has brought his vast t20 experience to bear smashing 308 runs at a strike rate of 164 runs per 100 balls. His achievements with the bat have seen him rise to fourth in the PCA’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Rankings (sponsored by FTI Consulting) in the FLt20, something he topped back in 2007. This season Wright has batted 8 times, scoring 32 or more on 6 occasions. His best performances came against Middlesex (91 off 61) and against Surrey (54 not out off 27).

Prior, meanwhile, has the best strike rate in the competition of 217 runs per 100 balls. He has struck 140 of his 187 runs in boundaries (23x4, 8x6) with a best of 81 of just 37 balls against the Hampshire Royals. He has contributed more than a quarter of Sussex’s competition runs in games in which he has played with scores of 35 off 19, 46 off 20 and 25 off 10 in addition to the Hampshire performance. Prior is ranked 71st in the FL t20 FTI MVP by virtue of the fact he has only played 5 games.

Nash is ranked 11th in the overall Rankings (decided across all 3 formats). In the FL t20 he has scored 238 runs from 8 knocks, 7 of which have been double-figure contributions. He has scored his runs at the rate of 131 runs per 100 balls. Nash has been one of the most consistent performers iin the Rankiigs over the last few years topping the CB40 FTI MVP last season.